The American heartland
was targeted for death and destruction by an al Qaeda cell, which allegedly included
a Somali immigrant, who will now face justice.

This morning, a federal
grand jury indictment charging Nuradin M. Abdi, a 32-year-old Somali national,
was unsealed in Columbus, Ohio. Abdi was arrested on immigration charges and has
been held by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since November 28, 2003.

I note that an indictment is merely an accusation and the defendant is
presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The charges against Abdi are:

Conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists;

Conspiracy
to provide material support to al Qaeda; and,

Two counts of fraud and misuse
of documents.

According to the indictment and the government's motion
to detain Abdi, he was allowed to immigrate to the United States in January 1999.
According to the detention motion, the Government will offer evidence that, with
the exception of some basic biographical data, virtually all of the information
Abdi submitted related to his immigration status was falsified.

The indictment
alleges that on April 27, 1999, Abdi applied to the Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS) - now the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement - for a travel
document similar to a passport that would allow him to leave the United States
and later return. Abdi indicated in the application that he intended to visit
Germany and Saudi Arabia.

In fact, as alleged in the indictment, Abdi's
destination was Ogaden, Ethiopia, to attend a military-style training camp for
violent jihad. Abdi allegedly sought training in guns, guerilla warfare, and bombs.

As stated in the detention motion, Abdi's purpose in seeking this training
was to ready himself to participate in violent Jihad conflicts overseas and to
lend support to activities his al Qaeda co-conspirators might ask him to perform
here in the United States.

It is alleged that in March 2000, Abdi re-entered
the United States from Africa using the immigration document gained through fraud.
According to the detention motion, one of Abdi's co-conspirators was Iyman Faris,
a convicted al Qaeda operative, who picked him up from the airport in Columbus,
Ohio. Faris was convicted of material support and conspiracy to provide material
support to al Qaeda. He is now serving a 20-year sentence.

Upon returning
to the Columbus, Ohio, area, it is alleged that Abdi, along with admitted al Qaeda
operative Faris and other co-conspirators, initiated a plot to blow up a Columbus
area shopping mall. It is also alleged that in pursuit of this plot, Abdi received
bomb-making instructions from one of those co-conspirators.

Defendant Abdi
faces a maximum of 30 years in prison on the two material support charges. The
immigration fraud charges include a terrorism enhancement that makes the maximum
sentence on each count 25 years. Each count of the indictment carries a fine of
up to $250,000.

Current, credible intelligence indicates that al Qaeda wants
to hit the United States and to hit us hard. We know our enemies will go to great
lengths to lie in wait and to achieve the death and destruction they desire.

America
offers freedom and the protection of human dignity to all oppressed people who
come to our shores. Unfortunately, some American citizens, as well as others given
haven here, have chosen to betray these values, and to support the terrorists'
goals and plots.

Material support of terrorists is a serious crime that
places the lives of innocent people at risk and endangers our nation's security.

Our citizens are threatened as much by the financier, the trainer and the
planner of terrorist plots, as they are by those who perpetrate these evil acts.
Material support is not a charge that is pursued casually or brought lightly.

To protect the lives and liberties of our citizens, the Department of Justice,
as well as state and local law enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security,
remains vigilant in detecting and disrupting such plots.

I thank Assistant
Attorney General Chris Wray of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Greg Lockhart
of the Southern District of Ohio for their leadership in this case.

I note
the efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service,
as well as the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement for their focused and cooperative efforts on this case.

I also
thank the Southern Ohio Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes agents and
officers from 15 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, for their
outstanding efforts in this investigation.